Welshman, Michael White has won the 2017 Paul Hunter Classic in Germany, defeating Shaun Murphy 4-2 in the final.

White had been really struggling for form coming in to this event, having not progressed any further than the last 16 in the last 9 months, but found his form in Germany, getting better as the tournament progressed. After a tough opening 4-3 win over Adam Duffy he then went on to beat Robbie Williams 4-1, Mike Dunn 4-0, Mark Selby 4-1, Ian Burns 4-1, Mitchell Mann 4-1 in the semi-final before beating Murphy 4-2 in the final.

White took the open 2 frames before Murphy claimed the third with a break of 84, to make it 2-1 to White. White took the fourth frame with a break of 83 and looked likely to seal the match in the next, until missing the final black and leaving it in the jaws for an easy knock in for Murphy, and reduce the deficit for Murphy to 3-2.

White was in first with an opening in frame 6, and he took full advantage, knocking in a match winning break of 93 to claim the first prize of £20,000 and his second career ranking tournament victory.

It means the world to me, the last couple of years have been a struggle because I have not competed with the top boys, or even felt that I was able to. But I have put a lot of work in and it has paid off.

When I missed the black in the fifth frame I didn’t feel that I could make a break after that. I dug as deep as I could.

Michael White

Shaun Murphy collected the runners-up cheque for £10,000 in his second consecutive final appearance, after being beaten by Luca Brecal just 5 days ago in the China Championship final, finishing runner-up both times.

Michael was just better than me from the first shot. This event is special because the fans are the best in the world.

Shaun Murphy

27 Aug 2017

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